Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Let me give the House the answer I have here and I will follow up with individual Deputies if I need to do so to give more information.

I welcome the opportunity to update the Deputies on the continued scaling up of operations by the passport service. The passport service maintained operations through the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the fact the processing of passports requires physical attendance on site to deliver this service. As a result of well-implemented safety protocols, 67,000 passport books and cards were issued between January and May of this year.

The operation of our public offices has necessarily been restricted due to the health and safety restrictions arising from Covid-19. That said, our customer service team maintained daily contact with customers by phone and online and the passport service continued to provide emergency services for those with a medical emergency or death of a family member abroad.

In line with our continued scaling up of services, I wish to advise Deputies that, as of Monday of this week, the urgent appointment service for renewal of passports is available for people who unexpectedly require their passport renewed at short notice. To avail of this service, members of the public can go online and book an appointment to attend the public office on Mount Street. The service is available for two types of appointment: same-day turnaround and four-day turnaround. A fee applies to the appointment service relative to how quickly the passport renewal is required. The urgent appointment service ensures that, for those who require an urgent turnaround of a passport renewal, an option is available that is transparent and predictable. It means applicants can book and pay for their appointments, safe in the knowledge they will have their passport within a day, or a few days, without having to queue or worry about whether they will make a flight.

The new system will also ensure citizens attend the public office on an appointment basis only, which allows for the maintenance of social distancing regulations within the public space. The passport service will continue to maintain its emergency service for those who require a passport for a medical emergency or death of a family member abroad.

As for turnaround times, the current passport processing times are ten working days for simple adult renewals, which is a very conservative estimate, actually, as they are being turned around often within 48 hours or less for online renewal applications from adults; 15 working days for complex renewals; 40 working days for first-time applications on Passport Online; and eight weeks for Passport Express, which I know has caused concern among some people. Almost 45% of passports for simple adult renewals continue to issue within one business day, while complex applications take longer.

There are approximately 130,000 applications currently on hand with the passport service. Seven Deputies have asked questions as to how current applications that are on hand are distributed by county, and I have arranged for those data to be shared with them by hard copy. All applications are dealt with based on date of receipt and application type rather than by geographical location. In other words, we have to do a bit of work to get the Deputies that information.

Of the applications on hand with the Passport Office, over 40% are incomplete applications that require additional action by the applicant before they can be processed further. Approximately 60% of the applications on hand are first-time applications. To protect the integrity of the Irish passport, such applications require careful processing to validate the identity of the applicant and his or her entitlement to Irish citizenship for the first time.

Additionally, in the case of children, consent of all guardians must be validated.

When I say that, some people look at me as if I am making an excuse to try to slow the thing down. I have been through this and have spoken to the team of people who are actually looking to root out fraud in the passport system. We have had about 450,000 passports issued this year and it is well understood that the passport system has been under an awful lot of pressure. That is exactly the time when criminals who want to commit fraud will try to use or abuse the passport system. We have to have a robust system to counteract that, and we do, but that means there is an implication in terms of timelines to make sure we do that well.

The passport service continually examines how to improve processing times, including examining the processes around the verification and processing of the supporting documentation for first-time applicants and any delays that have been experienced by our customers as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the high demand seen in recent months as international travel resumed.

There has been an ongoing process of reform within the passport service since 2016. Enhancements over recent years means that Passport Online can now be accessed by first-time applicants, both children and adults, in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. All Irish citizens, including children, can use the online system to renew their passports from anywhere in the world.

Recent reforms have also improved our fraud detection capacity following the introduction of new facial recognition technology, which improves the efficiency and the integrity of the passport system. Maintaining that integrity is essential to ensuring the Irish passport is one of the most secure in the world and one of the most effective in terms of granting citizens visa-free access to most countries in the world.

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